15 published records
Business licenses and permits in Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls runs a genuine general municipal Business License administered by the Fire Department (not Finance or Planning), per Title 5 of the Official Code of the City of Great Falls (OCCGF) and confirmed directly on the City's own Business Licensing and Home Occupations page and on Great Falls Fire Rescue's own current fee schedule (Resolution 10569, adopted April 15, 2025). The fee is tiered by the square footage of the business premises — $300.00 to $895.00 new issuance across six tiers, $80.00 to $640.00 renewal — with a much smaller flat fee ($100.00 new/$35.00 renewal) for a Mobile Food Vendor. The same resolution prices a $150.00/hour Fire Life Safety Plan Review (plus a $75.00 inspection fee) and a tiered fire re-inspection schedule. Resolution 10374 (2020, carrying forward 2018 Resolution 10252's rate tables) prices Building, Mechanical, Medical Gas, Plumbing, Electrical, Sign, and House Moving permits, including a valuation-based Building Permit fee plus a 50% (residential) or 65% (commercial) Plan Review surcharge; it prices no separate Certificate of Occupancy fee. A current Land Development Fee Schedule (effective October 5, 2023) prices Conditional Use Permits ($3,000.00), Variances ($2,500.00), commercial Zoning Permits ($1,000.00), and Zoning Determinations ($500.00). The Cascade City-County Health Department (CCHD), hosted on the genuine .gov domain cascadecountymt.gov, is the confirmed food-permitting authority, pricing a Risk-Category Plan Review fee for fixed establishments ($240.00-$510.00) and a lower one for mobile establishments ($180.00-$450.00), on top of the state's own $150.00-$275.00 Retail Food Establishment License fee. The City's own current Contractor License Verification Form prices a $45.00-per-license-type annual verification fee, layered on top of Montana's own state contractor registration. A headless-browser render of Title 5's Municode chapter index (a client-side-rendered table of contents a plain fetch cannot reach) confirms directly, per the header comment, that no dedicated municipal ordinance exists for retail, auto repair, veterinary, fitness, or salon trades beyond the general Business License. Montana's own 76-2-412 MCA statewide preemption keeps a licensed family or group day-care home a permitted use in every residential zone, with no Conditional Use Permit required.
What are you opening in Great Falls?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
- Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
- Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
- Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list
Permits that apply to every type of business in Great Falls
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business License | Great Falls Fire Rescue (GFFR) | A Business License fee tiered by the square footage of the business premises, each new-issuance figure including a flat $130.00 zoning-review component: Tier 1 (0-2,000 sq ft) $300.00, Tier 2 (2,001-10,000 sq ft) $350.00, Tier 3 (10,001-25,000 sq ft) $425.00, Tier 4 (25,001-50,000 sq ft) $510.00, Tier 5 (50,001-100,000 sq ft) $695.00, Tier 6 (over 100,000 sq ft) $895.00, or a flat $300.00 for churches. Annual renewal is $80.00 (Tier 1/churches), $125.00 (Tier 2), $185.00 (Tier 3), $265.00 (Tier 4), $440.00 (Tier 5), or $640.00 (Tier 6), plus a $50.00 fee for a transfer of ownership and a $50.00 late-renewal fee. | annual, renewed by the same square-footage tier | 2026-09-12 |
| Fire Life Safety Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you | Great Falls Fire Rescue (GFFR) | $150.00 per hour for in-house life-safety plan review, plus a $75.00 inspection fee. The first fire life-safety inspection of a business premise is covered by the Business License fee recorded separately above; re-inspections are billed at $100.00 (1st), $200.00 (2nd), or $300.00 (3rd), with a 4th re-inspection priced per OCCGF §15.9.050. | one-time, per project | 2026-09-12 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | $38.78 for a sign of 0-24 sq ft, plus $1.62 per sq ft for 25 sq ft or more. A flat $65.90 Reface Sign Permit/Inspection fee applies instead when refacing an existing permitted sign, and a separate $38.78 Sign Electrical Inspection Fee applies if the sign is wired. Other charges under the same fee schedule include a $50.00 Sign Examination Application Fee and a $150.00 Sign Electrician Certificate (Class A License) for sign contractors, a $77.55/year Bench Sign/Transit Shelter fee, a $64.62/year A-Type Sandwich Board Sign fee, and an On-Premise Temporary Sign fee of $32.31 (60-day permit) or $129.24 (annual permit). An Investigation Fee equal to the permit fee is assessed if a sign is installed before a required permit is issued. | one-time, per sign — not stated in the published fee schedule | 2026-09-12 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | No fee | one-time — issued after required building inspections confirm code compliance | 2026-09-12 |
| Varianceonly if it applies to you | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | $2,500 one-time, per application | one-time, per application | 2026-09-12 |
| Zoning Permit | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | $1,000 one-time, per application (commercial rate; $200.00 for a residential use) | one-time, per application | 2026-09-12 |
| Zoning Determinationonly if it applies to you | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | $500 one-time, per request | one-time, per request | 2026-09-12 |
| Building Permit | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | A valuation-based fee starting at $62.61 for the first $1,000 (or portion) of project valuation and rising in table increments to $1,091.02 at $100,000; from $100,001-$500,000 it is $1,091.02 plus $6.39 per additional $1,000 (or portion); from $500,001-$1,000,000 it is $3,646.14 plus $5.04 per additional $1,000; above $1,000,000 it is $6,161.34 plus $3.81 per additional $1,000. A Plan Review fee is added on top, equal to 50% of the Building Permit fee for residential projects or 65% for commercial projects. An Investigation Fee equal to the full Building Permit fee is assessed if construction begins before a required permit is issued. Separate Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, and Medical Gas permits are each priced under the same resolution, starting with a flat $34.39 issuance fee plus itemized per-fixture/per-appliance unit fees (e.g., $12.65 per plumbing fixture, $21.49 per residential electrical appliance outlet, $19.04 per mechanical furnace/burner installation). | one-time, per project | 2026-09-12 |
| Conditional Use Permitonly if it applies to you | City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division) | $3,000 one-time, per application | one-time, per application | 2026-09-12 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
What do these permits involve in Great Falls?
Business License
The Great Falls Fire Department, not Finance or Planning, administers this general Business License, required for 'each commercial business or multi-family residence located within the city limits' per the City's own Business Licensing and Home Occupations page. Effective January 1, 2025, current license holders were required to reapply using new application forms as part of a broader renaming of the program from Safety Inspection Certificate (SIC) to Business License. A Mobile Food Vendor pays a separate, smaller flat fee recorded below rather than a square-footage tier, since a mobile unit has no fixed premises to measure.
Fire Life Safety Plan Review
Applies when a new commercial building or a tenant improvement requires Great Falls Fire Rescue's own review of life-safety systems (egress, fire alarm, sprinkler, or similar), separate from and in addition to the Business License's own routine inspection cycle recorded above.
Sign Permit
Applies to a new or replacement sign attached to or associated with a business premises; a temporary or bench sign is billed under the separate flat-fee lines noted above rather than the per-square-foot rate.
Certificate of Occupancy
The City's own Building Division FAQ and Building Permit Fees pages, both read directly, describe the final inspection process required before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued but state no standalone dollar figure for the certificate itself, so no fee is listed beyond the Building Permit fee already recorded above.
Variance
Decided by the City's Board of Adjustment/Appeals, which the City's own page confirms hears and decides variance requests consistent with Title 17. Applications are submitted through the Community Development Department, which administers the Land Development Fee Schedule for both this process and the Conditional Use Permit recorded above.
Zoning Permit
Confirms a proposed commercial use and site plan comply with the applicable zoning district before a Building Permit is issued.
Zoning Determination
A written determination of whether a specific use is permitted on a specific parcel, typically sought before signing a lease or submitting a Building Permit application.
Building Permit
Fees are based on the valuation assigned to the project by the owner/contractor, or on the International Code Council's Building Valuation Data if the stated valuation appears undervalued, per the City's own Building Division FAQ.
Conditional Use Permit
Applies when a proposed use is not outright permitted in its zoning district and requires case-by-case approval. A licensed family or group day-care home is exempted from this process entirely by Montana state law (recorded separately below).
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Resolution No. 10569 — Great Falls Fire Rescue (GFFR) Fee Schedule (adopted April 15, 2025)City of Great Falls, Montana, City Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Business Licensing and Home Occupations — the City's own page confirming the Fire Department administers Business Licenses under Title 5City of Great Falls, Montana · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Resolution No. 10374 — Building, Mechanical, Medical Gas, Plumbing, Electrical, Sign, and House Moving Permit Fees (adopted November 17, 2020)City of Great Falls, Montana, City Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
- Land Development Fee Schedule (effective October 5, 2023)City of Great Falls, Montana, Community Development Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
Who issues business permits in Great Falls?
Permitting in Great Falls is split across 3 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
Great Falls issuing agencies
- City of Great Falls, Community Development Department (Planning & Building Division)Building, sign, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and medical gas permits; Certificates of Occupancy · Contractor License Verification · Zoning permits, zoning determinations, conditional use permits, and variances (staff to the Board of Adjustment)9 permits
- Great Falls Fire Rescue (GFFR)City of Great Falls general Business License issuance, renewal, and enforcement (Title 5, OCCGF) · Business and multi-family fire life-safety inspections and fire plans review4 permits
- Cascade City-County Health Department (CCHD), Environmental Health DivisionRetail and wholesale food establishment plan review and licensing · Mobile food establishment (food truck) plan review and licensing2 permits
Other Montana jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.